Improvement in machines for forming eyes of pickaxes



UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

H. L. LOWMAN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN MACHINES FOR FORMING EYES 0F PICKAXES, &c.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 79,364, dated J nne 30, 1868.

To all whom it may Gomera:

Be it known that I, -ELL. LOWMAN, yof the.

city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Machinery for Forming the Eyes of Pick.

axes and other tools; and I do hereby de clare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a'vertical longitudinal section of the machine aud the two sets of dies and inside swages. Fig. 2 isa vertical cross-section at A a of Fig'. 1, with the bar or block of iron inclosed in the .rst set of dies and ready toA be acted upon by the inside swage. Fig. 3 is a similar section, in the same plane A a, after the metal has been acted upon by the inside Figs. 4 and 5 are vertical sections at B b of Fig. 1, corresponding to Figs. 2 and 3; Fig. 6, anfelevation of the inner face of one of the rst setof-dies and inside sw'age; Fig. -7, anelevation of the-.inner face of one of the second set of dies and inside swage; andFig. 8 is an elevation and edge view of the eye of a pickax completed.-

The same letters indicate like parts in all the figures. i

My present invention relates to improvements on dies describedv in Letters Patent of the United States granted to me, and bearing date the 27th day of November, 1866.

'I shall describe and represent my said in-A ventionofthe required form to produce the .eyes of pickaxes, and from this it will be .seen that myv said invention is equally applicable to form the eyes of other tools which require the eye for the reception'of the handle to be of greater length than the'thickness of the body of the tool.

In the accompanying drawings, A A represent the first dies, both alike, and which, when put and held together iirrnly, form what may be termed a close die 7 with a cavity,a, (see Fig. 1,) extending through the lwhole length to receive the blank or bar of iron b to be formed.v This part of the cavity must be of a `form suited to the shape of the bar or piece of iro'n from which the pickax or other tool is to be made, and the shape of the blank or bar is not material Aso long as it presents the required `bulk of metal, although I prefer to use square bars ont' of the required length.

The part c 'of the cavity of the die should be oi' the form, or nearly so, ofthe eye of a pickaX or other tool intended to be formed; but an exact resemblance in form is not essential, as theinal form is not intended to be givenin this pair of dies 5 but the'upper part of the cavity, as at d, (see Figs. 2 and 6,) should extend at least as high as the intended projection of the eye beyond the body of the tool to bemade. In the lower part of the die there is an aperture, c, of the required form for the vfree entrance of .the inside swage f, which swage, along. the body, is made with parallel, or nearly parallel, sideslongitudinally, of an oval shape in its cross-section, and wedge-formed at the end g, (see Fig. 1,) but not brought to a cutting-edge', and at the butt end h it is to be 'suitably formed so that it can be securely held in line.- l U V Suitable machinery for operating the dies will be described presently.

The blank'or bar of iron b, ata high heat, is introduced bet-Ween thedies when opened, and so held that when the dies are closed it will be gripedand held in the cavity a. The dies are then moved toward the inside swage,

or vice versa, by which operation and the Wedge form of the inside swage the metallic spread outlaterally in the part c and upward into the part d of the'dies. then to be reversed and the blank liberated.

When delivered from this first pair of dies the blank will be only partially formed, the'principal object of this part ofthe operation being to force the metal into the part d of the dies 'to' give the required projection to the eye of the intended tool.- In performing this operation the instrument which has been termed an inside swage forces the metal bodily upward, leaving. it so that the lower side is bent up, as att'.- v(See Figs. 3 and 4.)

y rEhe forni given by the first set of dies will greatly facilitate the operation of making such tools by hand-forging, as the preparatory formgiven by snch/ means 'would be very ditlicu'lt to be given by han(l-forgi11g.

The lobject of the second pairotldies, in com- The movement is bination with an internal swage having acuttin'g-edge, is to complete the i'orm of the eye inside and outside by a second operation. The blank b', at the proper heat, is introduced in the second pair of dies, A A. The cavity in these dies forms a mold of' the external shape ot the eye of the tool intended to be produced-say, the eye of a pickax.

The body of the inside swage f', used in connection with the second set ot' dies, is made with parallel sides; but the tapered portion g (see Fig. l) is longer and brought to a cutting-edge, as represented.

The position ot' the dies A A' relatively to the inside swage f' is the reverse of the position of the first pair or" dies to the inside swage f, as will be seen by reference tothe drawings.

The object of the second operation is to complete the hole or eye for the reception of the handle to force back a suilicient quantity of metal to till up the cavity Ii---that is .to say, to force back, in part, the metal which was bent upward by the inside swage in fore ing the met-al iii the first pair of dies to form the projection of the eye, and iinally to complete the external form of the eye.

As the dies A A', with the heated'bl'ank b',-

approach the inside swage j", or vice versa, the cutting-edge oit' the latter cuts through 'the party" (see Figs. 3 and 4) ot' the blank,

and in continuing through the hole for the handle is completed in the eye of the blank.

During the operation last above described the tendency otl the wedge-like form of the inside swage is to carry the metal of the blank back to the form it had before it was operated upon in the first pair of dies, ex-

cept as to the hole made through it, and thus to destroy the projection of the eye from the body of the tool to be made. A

XVhatisrequiredis to force back only enough metal to straighten what'may be termed the back 7 of thepick or other tool, and at the same time to preserve the projection of the eye from the body -oi the tool obtained by the rs't operation.

The means by which I have been enabled to accomplish this desired result constitutesa material part of my invention.

That part of the cavity d oi' the dies where the inside ewa-ge first enters is slightly rounded or beveled outward, so that the cavity shall be wider where the inside swage enters than it is a short distance inward,as will be seen by reference to Fig. 1. It results from this form ofthe cavity in the dies, in connection with the wedge forni ofthe forward part of the inside swage, that, vas the metal of the blank is divided by the cutting-edge, it is spie: ll outwardand into contact with the be'. l:led surfaces ot' the cavity of the dies by the wedge form 'of the inside swage; and these beveled surfaces of the' dies present such resistance to the iron that the Wedgelikc l'orm of the inside swage can only carry 'with it such portion of the metal as is not required. to form the projecting part of the 2 'rasca eye, and the metal so carried forward lls up the cavity which was formed in the blank at i by the inside swage in the trst operation, at the saine time completing the eye.

The dies A A have an opening at c',

through which the inside swage can pass freely toward the end of the operation, that the wedge portion ot' that instrument may pass entirely through the eye of the blank,

' the flange-like projection l ofthe dies around that hole forming a resisting-surface to give the required form to the back of the blank around the eye.

I am thus enabled by two operations only to form from a' plain bar or block of metal that part of a pickax or other tool requiring` the eye for the handle to be of greater length than the thickness of the body of the tool; and I am enabled to accomplish these results without waste of metal, as the hole for the handle is formed by spreading the metal instead of punching through and discharging scraps.

The aies A A and A A' are hinged in pairs to the under side of a cross-head, m', which slides vertically in ways in the standardsa n' of a suitable frame. Each pair of dies is provided with an interposed spring, o o', by which they are opened like a pair of jaws, that the bla-nk may be inserted and taken out.

To the bed-plate p' ot' the frame are secured cam-pieces q q q q', so located and formed that when the cross-head fm `begins to move down, the' outer lower surface of the dies strike these cam-faces, and are thereby forced toward each other to close the dies, and so.

hold them until they are relieved by the return-motion and opened by the springs for the discharge of. the blanks.

.The butt-end ofthe inside swages, f end f, are iirmly secured to the bed-plate by side wedges, i", so that they can be readily taken out and replaced and adjusted.

The ,cross-head m is connected by rods s' s with another and parallel cross-head, t', at a distance apart equal to the diameter of each of two eccentrics, a u', on the driving-shaft r', by which the dies are moved up and down.

At each upward motion lof the dies a partially-formedblank is taken out of the first pair of dies, and a highly-heated bar is introduced, and at the same time a finished eye 1s taken out of the second set of dies, anda highly-heated and partially-formed blank mserted.

It will be obvious that, instead of moving in combination with the first set of dies and which is wedge-shaped :mid with :L cutting;- inSideSWage,substantially as mui for thepuredge, substantially as and ior the purpose pose specified. specified.

2. Forming .the second pair `of dies with Y that part of the cavity toward the inside H L'LOWMAN' swage with :m outward bevel or eurve, sub- Wituesses: stantially as herein described, in combination Y WM. H. BISHOP,

with .the 'inside swaige, the forward end of' PETER DE LACYV 

